MASSPIRG goes to Washington to tackle plastic pollution and energy waste

MASSPIRG, joined our network partners from across the country to encourage Congress to stop plastic pollution and called on President Biden’s Administration to adopt strong appliance efficiency standards.

Plastic waste is everywhere- high up in the Alps, in the deepest parts of the ocean and in our local waterways including the the Cape Cod Bay. Plastic pellets (also called nurdles) are a growing source of this plastic pollution. These pellets are the raw material that’s used to make familiar plastic products like water bottles, grocery bags and polystyrene foam. Because they are small, cheap and easily contaminated, they’re dumped by plastics manufacturers or spilled during transport – often with no consequences for the companies responsible. 

That’s why we’re working to pass the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act, S. 2337; H.R. 7634 which bans the dumping of plastic pellets. With 10 trillion pellets entering our oceans each year, it’s critical our lawmakers act now. 

US Representative Jim McGovern (MA-2), MASSPIRG’s Deirdre Cummings and Janet Domentiz, Kabir Gupta, USPIRGPhoto by Rep. McGovern staff staff | Used by permission

We thanked US Senator Ed Markey and US Representatives Jim McGovern and Seth Moulton for cosponsoring the bill and urged the rest of the delegation to support it. 

Speaking outside the US Department of Energy is U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL), to her left is US Senator Peter Welch VT).Photo by Yazan Aboushi | Used by permission

Earlier that day, MASSPIRG joined members of Congress and consumer, environmental and health advocates outside the U.S. Department of Energy to commend the Biden Administration for its work to date on appliance efficiency and to urge them to get the job done.

The Department of Energy has taken action to make sure dishwashers, clothes dryers, washing machines, refrigerators, furnaces and many more appliances waste less energy. But, last week the Department of Energy issued an energy efficiency rule for transformers that left significant achievable energy savings on the table. That will make it harder for the Biden Administration to meet its pledged goal to issue standards that would save consumers nearly $1 trillion and avert 2.5 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions this presidential term.